Are we demons?

we always associate demons with some bad creatures, without the least titillation of alluding ourselves, not to mention , our carelessness and indifference in understanding Shastras , or our easy disposition to breach them to suit our own paradigms that are aligned with our ever perfidious goals of sensual pleasures and other mundane objects. Out of the four known Purusharthas, Artha-wealth, has taken a primordial importance today. In Mahabharata itself we find the same sentiment echoed by Arjuna when he says that without Artha , a man cannot meet other ideals. Even Kaama and Dharma require the support of Artha , says Arjun to Dharmaputra. How do we decide what to do and what not to do?
The basis of action is to be decided upon the direction and sanction of our Shastras . Without Shastras any meaningful discussion on the ethics and human conduct would be futile and no common consensus can ever be reached. These Shastras are the commandment of Our Lord and hence they are construed as the most important Pramana-valid source of knowledge in our Hindu Culture.
Bhagavat Shri Ramanuja in his Gita Bhashya , introduces chapter-16 as the chapter that brings to light the importance of observing shastras and says that those who follow Shastras are divine and those who don’t are demons. Some qualities and conduct of the Divine and the Demons are discussed in this chapter. This chapter is not intended just to elicit compunction but to make us probe into our nature and attempt amendments as much as possible.

Some divine qualities as explained by Udayavar.
Abhayam(fearlessness)- Fear is the pain arising from the awareness of the cause which brings pain in the form of either disassociation from the objects of attachments or attachment with the objects of our aversion. The absence of this is fearlessness-taken from Ramanuja Gita bashya.

So how do we develop fearlessness? The Upanishads say”atsah abyangatho bhavati”- as we move closer to the Lord , we become fearless. The first stage is to follow the commandments of him to please him and slowly by his grace , we would become closer to him. We cant reach Him or understand Him with our mind completely. The Upanishads say “ Yatho vaacho nivartante , aprapya manasa saha anandam brahmano vidwan na bibethi kadachana” when our words or mind fail to understand him, on experiencing his bliss as we go near him, we becomes fearless. Also by surrendering ourselves to him and having absolute faith in him, we will become fearless and this is expressed by Krishna –“maa suchah” –do not grieve.
Ramanuja is perfect in his definition and we find him use these words -objects of attachment and objects of aversion that bring about this pain and fear. Attachment not warranted by Shastras and aversion not warranted by Shastras always bring pain. Bhagavan Yamunaacharya says “ astaana sheha karunya dharma adharma diyaakulam….” Misplaced love and merciness leads to a perplexed mind and we will lose sight ot what is to be done and what not. Arjuna was in deep fear before the war due to misplaced attachment. He says “ Gandivam samshrate hastath , tvak chaiva paridahyate….” confirming that his body was trembling with fear and he couldn’t hold the Gandiva Bow. Thus Bhagavan Shri Parthasarathy instigates Partha into Karma yoga asking him to do karma phala tyaga and kartrutva buddhi tyaga to get rid of misplaced affection and slowly attempts to direct him into Bhakti and Sharanaagathi in the end..
The Lord himself promised in his Rama avatar that “Sakrideva prapanyaaya tavaasmiti cha yaachate , Abhayam sarva bhutebyo dadametat vratam mama”- I will destroy fear among all creatures that surrender unto me.
Shri Vednta Desika wrote Abheeti stavam to bring out how Lord Ranganatha and his close proximity destroys all our fears.
Fear is sometimes considered divine. Let’s see how
The Vedas say that out of fear of HIM that earth moves, sun shines etc. this fear should be construed as positive. What is intended is that the Lord has absolute control over Chit(living) and Achit( prakriti). Fear when born out of Hari Bhakti becomes satvic and is not a negative quality as it conveys just Bhakti.. Periya Alzyar –shri Vishnu Chittar was afraid of “kann ecchal “ on Lord’s tirumeni and he composed Tiru Pallandu . Each human being should only fear disobeying the Lord and his commandments. All other fears either arise because of our attachment to fruits of actions or our greed and lust for mundane objects.
Lets see how Thondaradipodi Alzwar overcame fear. In Tirumaalai he says “ Kaavilir pulaanai vaithu, kalithannai kadaka payandu navalitu uzhidariginnom naman thamar thailagal meedu…” By learning to chant the names of the Lord, Alzwar became so fearless that he feels like dancing over the head of Yama kinkaras despite his not being in control of sense organs.
Andal says “Matrainum kaamangal matru”- we need to slowly direct all our desires towards Hari. We need to have faith that he alone is the means and our end and he is the enjoyer of all our sacrifices and hence all our “karma Phalas” should be directed towards him.Once we do that The Lord will grant us fearlessness and we will be at peace. He himself says this”Suhridam sarva bhootaanam gynaatva maam shantim rhicchasi”……to be continued.